Park Ji-hoon takes stab at ‘Weak Hero Class 1’
Actor and singer Park Ji-hoon has taken on his first action series, playing the lead character, Yeon Si-eun, in Wavve’s new original series, “Weak Hero Class 1.”
Based on the webcomic of the same name, the teen action series, released on Friday, follows the story of a smart, model student named Si-eun. He is an outsider who devotes his time to studying rather than socializing with his classmates.
One day, he comes across another outsider at the school, Ahn Su-ho (Choi Hyun-wook), and a transfer student, Oh Beom-seok (Hong Kyung). The three form an unlikely friendship and come together to cover each other’s backs at school where fights and bullying are routine occurrences.
The series is created by Han Jun-hee, who led the Netflix series, “D.P.,” and is directed by You Su-min, whose previous work includes the short film, “Thirsty.”
“Si-eun is a lonely kid. And when he meets Su-ho and Beom-seok, he becomes more mature. This series is about (Si-eun’s) coming-of-age story with his friends,” Park said during a press conference for the series, held at CGV Yongsan, central Seoul, Wednesday.
The actor said that he trained at an action school before filming the series.
“This is my first action series. So I trained for about three to four months,” he said. “As I was creating my character and practicing the action sequences, I tried to put myself in the character’s shoes like, ‘How would Si-eun hit other people?’ or, ‘What faces would he make in this situation?’”
He added that he found many common traits between his character and himself.
“In some way, I was like Si-eun when I was in school. I became a (K-pop) trainee at a young age. So I also felt the loneliness Si-eun experienced in his school life,” he said, adding that working on this series has taught him a lot.
“Working on this, I’ve gotten a lot of encouragement. I’ve learned that there could be different ways to approach acting and create a scene from working with fellow co-stars. There were a lot of moments that led me to step out of my box. In that sense, I feel this series has helped me grow.”
Han, the creator of the program, said that the series will have a realistic portrayal of school life. “Most people, if not everyone, have been in school in their lifetime. Because the story talks about an institution, it’s going to be realistic,” he said.
“What director You and I discussed was that we wanted viewers to understand each character. Every one of the characters has their own reasons for their behaviors and consequences. We thought it would be easier for the viewers to follow the story if they understand each character,” he said.
He added that the viewers should be able to identify with the characters.
“It would be interesting for viewers to see which character resembles them when they were in school. If they reflect on their own experiences of school life, it would be more interesting to watch,” he said.
“Weak Hero Class 1” was released on Wavve, Friday.